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Brooke Thackray is a research analyst with Horizons Investment Management. His focus is on seasonal investing and technical analysis.

Brooke Thackray is a research analyst with Horizons Investment Management. His focus is on seasonal investing and technical analysis.

Top picks:

Industrials Select Sector SPDR

The industrial sector tends to perform with the market, but at this time of the year the sector has a track record of outperforming the market on a frequent basis, making it a good addition to a portfolio.

iShares Global Agriculture Index Fund

The agriculture sector tends to perform well from August until the end of December. The sweet spot for this trade is from the October until the end of the year. There is still a lot of room left for this position to appreciate.

BMO S&P/TSX Equal Weight Banks Index ETF

Canadian banks have their year-ends at the end of October. Investors generally try to buy into the sector before the bank year-ends which helps push up the bank stocks for a favourable period that lasts until mid-April. The initial start to this seasonal period may be muted by Moody's recently announced review of six Canadian banks.

Past picks: May 3, 2012

*Short Advanced Micro Devices

Then: $7.41
Now: $2.09
Total return: +71.79 per cent

Intel (INTC NASDAQ)

Then: $28.56
Now: $21.73
Total return: -23.26 per cent

Consumers Staples Select Sector SPDR

Then: $34.35
Now: $35.38
Total return: +4.44 per cent

Total return average: +17.66 per cent

Fund profile

Top 5 Holdings of Actively Managed – Horizons Seasonal Rotation ETF

10.2%HFR Horizon Floating Rate Bond ETF
9.8%IYT iShares Transportation ETF (USA)
7.9%MOO Market Vectors Agriculture ETF (USA)
7.0%  XLI  Industrials Select Sector SPDR (USA)
5.0%EAF iShares MSCI EAFE Index (USA)

*U.S. positions are currency hedged.

Watch Mr. Thackray on BNN.

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